10 Week training course in surfing, water safety, climbing, leadership and child protection.Learn the skills of outdoor insruction at Donegal Adventure Centre. Improve your personal fitness ,gain work experience at Ireland’s premier outdoor centre,enhance your CV with qualifications in sports and child protection and enjoy training and working in a busy fun enviroment.

Course description
The Outdoor Instructor Course OITC is a training course for candidates who wish to become instructors working in the area of surfing and other beach activities. This course concentrates mainly on training for the ISA level 1 surf coach award, the RLSS Beach Lifeguard award, and over the ten weeks candidates will also train in child protection, adventure (land-based) activities, leadership skills, team training and development and beach first aid skills. Candidates are expected to attend Monday-Friday for the duration of the course.
Candidates must be able to swim. Candidates do NOT have to be able to surf, as you will be taught the skills of surfing if required. Surfing and swimming training are major parts of this course, and you can expect to be in the water every day. Students are expected to be (or get) fit through training every day. Training will include water-based (Swim & surf) and land based activities ( running, circuit training etc.)

Candidates will also do basic training in low ropes, climb & abseil and high ropes instruction . Candidates will also participate and learn to skills of conducting team-training activities and land-based activities. Candidates will do child protection training, and Beach first aid. The fees for the course are 950 euro.

You can also add on a canoe/kayak module which will take place each Friday of the course. This is run by Mr. Jon O’ Neill at The Lakeside Centre, Ballyshannon. This will give qualifications in Kayak and Canoeing. This is an excellent add-on to the course, and Jon is a superb trainer. There is a minimum number of 4 persons required to deliver this module, so please let me know if you want option 1 or option 2. Please feel free to contact Jon at 087 7920302 for further information.
What do you need ?
You do need to be able to swim – there is swim coaching included in the course for those who would like to improve their swimming. You need a willingness to learn, a sense of humour and an interest in meeting new people and learning new things.
You don’t need any surfing or outdoor sports experience – if you have them, that’s a bonus but not necessary. As well as being trained and coached by our multi-qualified instructors, you will get a chance to interact with clients and learn leadership and management skills by shadowing and helping our staff with school, adult and special needs groups.

Candidates who complete the full course will be offered the following assessments & qualifications:

1: The Irish Surf Association Level 1 Surf Coach Award*

2: The RLSS Beach Lifeguard Award *

3: HSE Child Protection

4: DAC certification in Adventure Activities

5: DAC certification in Leadership Skills (Children & Teenagers)

6 DAC certification in Work Experience

*The following assessments are conducted by the national governing bodies, and an examination fee is payable. The awards are assessed independently, and DAC does not guarantee that students will pass these awards: that depends on student’s own performance during the assessments.